


Place

by midnight_marimba



Series: Heart to Heart [2]
Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Act 3 spoilers, Anxiety, Drinking, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22107193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnight_marimba/pseuds/midnight_marimba
Summary: During an evening of celebration, Sylvando notices someone is missing.
Relationships: Sylvia | Sylvando & Graig | Hendrik
Series: Heart to Heart [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1587526
Comments: 10
Kudos: 66





	Place

**Author's Note:**

> This fic includes a couple tiny references to El the Luminary as characterized in [Hero’s Voice](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18653860), but should work fine standalone. Act 3 / endgame spoilers.

Sylvando tried to keep a straight face, but he only lasted an instant before he joined in with the laughter at his own joke.

The mood of the group was giddy and joyful and affectionate and everything Sylvando had ever wanted them to feel. It only made sense after the day they’d had. They’d eaten a good breakfast, saved the world, had a nice session of cheering and dancing and singing on the back of a magical flying whale, unanimously agreed everyone was a bit whiffy and achy and a nice visit to the hot springs would really hit the spot, and now here they were at the end of the day, gathered together in the Hotto tavern to relax and rest and giggle over anything and nothing.

He looked around at each smiling face in turn, accepting a little burst of melancholy at the notion that this would perhaps be the last night in a long time that they’d all be together, since everyone had somewhere they wanted to go now that their mission was done. Not that he wasn’t looking forward to visiting his papi, but he’d miss spending his days with these friends. It had been a long time since he’d felt this degree of belonging with a big group of people.

Then a tiny hint of a frown snuck onto his face, because someone was missing. Hendrik. Sylvando hadn’t noticed him leave.

He waited a few minutes in case it was a simple matter of a call of nature. He’d noticed Hendrik downing quite a few celebratory drinks, earlier. But by the same token, as the minutes passed, his level of concern increased for their absent companion.

“Has anyone seen Hendrik?” he finally asked.

Everyone looked around at each other. No one spoke, but the Luminary caught his eye and tilted his head toward the door.

“Went out the front, hmm? Thank you, El. Maybe I’ll just go stretch my legs, too. Save me some mochi!”

It didn't take too long to spot Hendrik. Even in the dim light from the nearby houses, his hulking figure was conspicuous standing alone in the middle of the open space downstairs, staring at the sky.

Hendrik glanced down at Sylvando’s approach, but then he crossed his arms and looked up again. Sylvando willfully ignored the change in posture and took up position at his side.

“The stars are pretty without the big spooky one in the way, no?”

“Yes. That is a clear improvement.” Hendrik spoke in a serious tone, almost grim, and his words came at a slow, measured pace.

“A real weight off everybody’s shoulders. I think even El might be on the verge of breaking into song.”

“The boy has fulfilled his duty in a fashion beyond reproach. I am humbled to have been his companion.”

“I know what you mean, honey. He did so good, and I’m so, so proud.”

Hendrik nodded, but his expression didn’t change, and he remained silent.

“It’s almost a shame to think that we’ll go our separate ways tomorrow,” Sylvando tried, wondering if Hendrik was feeling some of the same bittersweet mood that had struck him earlier.

“Heliodor,” Hendrik sighed.

“Not excited to go home, darling?”

Hendrik’s mouth twisted. “Sylvando, have you ever felt unequal to the duty expected of you?”

“Oh. Well. I suppose you could say was a certain amount of that mixed in with the whole running away to join the circus thing, if you must know.” The admission tasted like a lemon drop on his tongue. Any other day, it might have left a sour taste, but their recent accomplishments were enough to sweeten anything.

“I am wondering if it would have been better if I had followed your lead.”

“To join the circus, darling?” The image tickled his fancy and swept away the momentary threat of discomfort from the conversation. “Well, really, it’s not too late. I’m thinking of starting my own troupe.”

“The circus, or anything else. I do not know if it is a good thing for me to be a knight. Sylvando, the number of times I might have been responsible for the Luminary’s death! The number of orders I followed without question. I took such pride in being a good soldier. I grew my strength, but not my wisdom. I don’t deserve to hold the power of my own body!” Hendrik’s voice grew louder and his words came faster as he spoke, and with the last exclamation, he threw his arms in the air, a violent motion that tipped him off balance, and he staggered a little.

Sylvando thought once more of the number of empty mugs that he’d spotted on the table in front of Hendrik that night and realized that this was going to be an unusual sort of conversation with the normally reserved knight.

“Hendrik, I think I speak for the entire team when I say we have all been immensely glad of your presence. You’re like our rock. Our walking, talking, protective rock that keeps all of us safe. I’m truly not sure we could have done it without you. Why, just today, I saw you save our Luminary more times than I could track.”

“Hm. You are kind, Sylvando, but following the Luminary was easy. The boy has a pure heart and wisdom beyond his age. Almost an inflabbable, inlaffible. Inflab.” Hendrik ground to a halt and cleared his throat. He spoke more slowly and carefully again when he resumed. “A very good instinct for what is the right thing to do. Everything he touches turns out well. Perhaps I should add my support to Rab’s suggestion that he return to Dundrasil, and then request that my service be transferred to him.”

“Darling. You aren’t looking forward to going back to your king? Even a little bit?” Maybe it was a little unfair for him to use Hendrik's current state to pry into his private worries, but Sylvando wasn't above playing dirty if it meant he could help root out a source of unhappiness for a friend.

“Sylvando, my king was possessed by a madman for years and years. And years and years and years. Years, and, and in the past decade and more, only one day of it has truly been with my king. I don’t even know if I know my king at all. I had thought him a stern man with stern but fair plans too complex for me to understand. I had thought that the change in how he acted back then was a sign of his grief for his daughter, and that perhaps his cooler attitude toward me was a sign that he’d come to respect me as an adult, rather than merely a foster son. I should have known. I should have seen that something was wrong. I should have known.”

“Well, honey, that’s a tough one. Grief can certainly change a man. They said my papi had a sweeter temper while my mamá was around, for example. Besides, Mordegon wasn’t a fool. He surely knew he couldn’t afford to seem too unreasonable all at once. And no one else picked up on it, either, no? You were taken in by a very skilled con artist. There’s little shame in that.”

Hendrik’s expression lightened before falling dark again, a brief break in the storm clouds. “But then there’s Jasper.”

“Hmm.”

“I believed him to be good at heart, too. I loved him like a brother. But in the end, he was knowingly serving an evil man. Had been for years. I’d seen him doing worse and worse things over the years, but he kept telling me he was only following orders and that I was too slow to understand the reasoning. I believed him. I let him do all of it, up until Cobblestone. It took a plan to outright murder a village of innocents before I ever challenged either of them.” Reflected light shimmered in Hendrik’s eyes, and Sylvando realized the knight was on the verge of tears. He touched Hendrik lightly on the elbow.

“Darling. You did challenge that, and it was rather a good moment to begin thinking for yourself, my dear. Now tell me, do you think you would allow so many questionable orders to go unquestioned in the future?”

“Well...no. I hope. I don’t know.”

“The king tells you to kidnap a baby, would you do it?”

“No!”

“Threaten someone with violence if they refused to pay extra taxes they only found out about the same day?” Sylvando dipped into his own store of rumors about Jasper’s behavior in the slums from the time he’d spent in the theater community in Heliodor.

“Of course not. The law dictates that a minimum of ninety days advance notice must be given, and in any case the punishment is not violence. It's all in the proclamation of the year...in the proclamation…You know. That one proclamation.” Hendrik gestured vaguely, looking faintly embarrassed over his deficiency in pedantic detail.

“Okay. Release a nobleman from the dungeon even though you’d seen him committing a terrible crime?”

A scowl. “I regret that I ever allowed that to happen.”

“Fight a dragon that comes to eat the livestock in the field?”

Hendrik hesitated. “What’s wrong with that one?” he asked anxiously.

“Nothing, honey. It was a test. You passed.”

“Oh. Oh!”

“At any rate, I’d say you’ve grown at least a bit wiser than you used to be. As for being a judge of character in general, hmm. Don’t you think you’ll be more likely to notice and worry about major changes in behavior from now on?”

“Yes, but, how will I really know? What about, what about Don Rodrigo?”

Sylvando took a moment to track this non-sequitur back to the earlier subject of the effects of grief. “Okay. If you think you detect any big, sudden change in personality, but you aren’t quite sure if you’ve got it right, well, you do have a lot of friends. You trust El’s judgement completely, no? So why not ask him for advice if you run into a puzzler like that?”

“Oh. He will be in the area, won’t he? Cobblestone is not so far by Obsidian’s hooves.”

“Right. And of course Jade will be right there. I think she has pretty good judgement, too.”

“That is true. She will make a fine queen one day.”

“She really will.”

Another cycle of moods shifted over Hendrik’s face, and Sylvando marveled at how much easier it was to read Hendrik tonight, even in the low light. Sober Hendrik wasn’t all that difficult if you knew his range, but drunken Hendrik was an open book with a magnifying glass. This time, he landed on minor anxiety with an edge of shyness.

“What if. What if I’ve changed too much? What if His Majesty doesn’t like who I am now?”

Sylvando put his hands on his hips, tilted his head, and produced a wry smile. “I guess it will be a lot like going to spend time with a father you haven’t seen in a couple of decades, and he wasn’t even mad at you the last time he saw you.”

Hendrik gave him a stricken look. “I am sorry, Sylvando. I did not intend to…”

Sylvando waved a hand to dismiss the need for any apology. “Besides, you’ve really only become more you, your whole life. Boy Soldier Hendrik, turned into the pure essence of knighthood. If I was your papi, I’d be proud of you.”

“Oh.” Hendrik blinked, and his shoulders straightened a notch. “Do you think so?”

“Absolutely, darling. And you know, if you’ve been having doubts, how do you think Jade is feeling about seeing her papi and her home after so long? I’m sure she’s feeling much, much better about the whole idea of taking the stage in Heliodor knowing that your familiar face is going to be there waiting in the wings.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“At least you know the other people there. Father and daughter will both need someone familiar with their best interests at heart to help them settle back into place.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have left in the first place. But then…”

“I wouldn’t feel guilty about saving the world, darling. And your king certainly did want you to watch out for his daughter, too. He’ll be delighted to know that you’ve completed both quests like a champion.”

“Right. Right. I did good. Good things. What I was supposed to do.” Hendrik’s face shifted again, finally heading in the direction of a good mood without sliding backwards.

“Exactly so.”

“I’ll go home and see everyone. Make sure everything’s working the way it’s supposed to. Visit the training grounds. The stables. Obsidian is there!”

“Yes, darling, your horsie is waiting, too.”

Unfazed by Sylvando’s choice of words, Hendrik materialized one of his rare unfettered smiles. He dropped a heavy hand onto Sylvando’s shoulder and earnestly leaned forward, swaying close enough that Sylvando got a whiff of the drink on his breath. “Sylvando. Thank you. You are a true brother to me. The best comrade in arms, no, the truest friend a man could ask for.”

“Hendrik, sweetie, that means a great deal coming from you,” said Sylvando, touched in spite of the alcoholic influence, and delighted to watch Hendrik’s drunken melancholy replaced by sappy enthusiasm.

Hendrik’s eyes drifted closed for a moment, but the shoulder clasp didn’t go away. Sylvando tilted his head. “Would you like a hug, darling?”

“Hug? Oh. Yes. That is your favored mode of expressing mutual regard, is it not? Very well. We shall hug.”

Hendrik withdrew, regarded Sylvando with a serious face, took a deep breath, and nodded, as though he was preparing to charge into battle. Then he reached out and clapped his arms around Sylvando, crushing him in a bear hug that made Sylvando laugh with as much breath as he could catch.

“Easy, darling! I’m not a wet towel you have to wring dry,” he wheezed.

“I apologize. Is this an improvement?”

“Yes, darling, that is a nice, friendly hug.”

Sylvando held on for the maximum length of time he judged acceptable for a friendship hug, enjoying the gift of affection from someone unaccustomed to this style of showing it, as well as the novelty of embracing someone taller than himself. Then he loosened his hold with a little pat on the back.

Hendrik didn’t let go. Hendrik’s forehead came down to rest on the top of Sylvando’s head. 

Sylvando blinked. A romantic gesture from Hendrik?

He hadn’t seen this coming whatsoever. Between the magazines and the way Hendrik grew far more flustered with Jade’s teasing than his own, Sylvando had been almost certain Hendrik wasn’t remotely interested in men, and as such, he hadn’t put any thought into how to react if Hendrik ever did try to make a move.

Given the knight’s traditional values, his attachment to Heliodor, Sylvando’s personal plans for the future, and the friendship that Sylvando really did value, it was deeply complicated at best, he decided. Besides, even if he might ever entertain the idea, he’d rather wait for a sober confession rather than accepting one found at the bottom of a mug.

So he loaded up his voice with a tone he hoped would convey that he was flattered, not completely uninterested, but filled with reservations. “Hendrik?”

Hendrik answered with a soft snore.

Sylvando shook Hendrik awake with his laughter.

“Hm? Yes. You’re a good friend, Sylvando,” Hendrik reiterated as he withdrew and offered another brief clap on the shoulder.

“Hendrik, dear, this was a lovely little chat, but now I think it’s time to send you to bed.”

“Nonsense. I feel that a weight has come off my shoulders! I am full of energy!”

“Oh? Full of pep, are we? In that case, how about a race? Last one to our room is a dancing devil!”

“As you wish. Prepare yourself!”

“Okay. Ready? Go!”

Sylvando looked ahead of their trajectory, recognized Hendrik’s single-minded determination, worried about a collision with a pair of bystanders, and decided he’d better call a warning. "The bull is charging! I don't think he'll stop at all! Stand clear, everyone!" Sylvando tapped his thumb against his fingers in sequence to count the syllables. It had been quite a while since he'd spent any great length of time in Hotto, and the words came slowly, with pauses between the phrases that would make it obvious that he was a foreigner. But he judged it not half bad for an emergency warning, and he thought that putting in the effort would smooth any ruffled feathers over Hendrik's enthusiastic but reckless advance.

He let Hendrik beat him to the inn room, where the big man put his hands on his hips and grinned. “You see? Now you are the one who must be known as the dancing devil!”

“Oh, fiddlesticks. You really showed me,” said Sylvando. “Whew, I might have to lay down for a minute.”

He threw himself down on the bed he’d claimed earlier when they’d rented the rooms and then frowned dramatically. “That’s odd. Hendrik, try laying on your bed for a minute. Does your pillow feel funny to you?”

“The pillow? Let me see.” Hendrik mirrored his posture, laying down on his side. “No, I don’t think so.”

“It’s hard to tell, but try closing your eyes and really focusing on it for a moment.”

“Very well.”

Sylvando waited for Hendrik’s breathing to slow, a matter of a dozen breaths, before peeking out of one eye. He smiled satisfaction at the success of his plot, then sat up and tapped his fingers against his cheek in thought, careful not to make any noise that might wake Hendrik.

It had felt like an important conversation, but he had his doubts that Hendrik would remember much of it in the morning. So he scavenged a piece of paper from his pack and took a few minutes to write down a summary.

  


_On the day you saved the world, you also admitted these truths:_

  * _You haven’t actually done anything truly awful_
_
  * You personally prevented lots of awful things
  * You have a conscience and you are ready to do the right thing in the future
  * When in doubt, you can ask your friends
  * Your king and your princess really need you
  * Sylvando is your best friend
_ 


_And you won a race! Good job, honey!_

  


He drew a quick illustration of stick figures running along the bottom of the page: Hendrik with bull horns, himself with a long, pointed tail, and bystanders fleeing from them. That part probably wouldn’t exactly make Hendrik smile, but it did the job for himself, and he rationalized that giving Hendrik something to puzzle over would probably also get him to spend more time thinking about the rest of the note.

He waved the paper dry, folded it up, and slipped it into Hendrik’s coin purse. Unlaced Hendrik’s boots and carefully pulled them off. Found a spare blanket and draped it over his friend. Nodded to himself, then ghosted out of the room to head back to the tavern.


End file.
